Defensive Contribution Watch — After GW3

If you're still building your squad around goals and assists alone, you're leaving points on the table — literally. Defensive contribution points have quietly been one of the best value additions to the game, and three gameweeks in, the leaderboard is throwing up some names worth knowing.

Top of the pile right now is Egan, Hull's centre-back, with 41 defensive contribution actions across three games — a genuinely elite 13.67 per 90. And he's not just a defcon merchant either: 23 points and 6.1% ownership tells you he's contributing at the other end of the pitch too. Right behind him is Muharemović at Leeds (39 total, 13 per 90), and his teammate Stach isn't far off either (38 total, 12.67 per 90, and 19 points on the season already) — Leeds' newly-promoted midfield engine room is putting in real defensive shifts every single week.

Scott at Bournemouth deserves a mention too — 37 defensive actions, 24 total points, and still only 3.7% owned. That's exactly the profile our differentials tool is built to flag: someone doing genuinely productive defensive AND attacking work that the ownership numbers haven't caught up with yet.

A couple of names further down the price bracket are worth a watch as budget picks who might actually contribute rather than just sit there: Ajer at Brentford (32 total defcon actions, £4.5m) and Khalaili at Crystal Palace (33 total, 14.92 per 90, and just 0.2% owned — as under-the-radar as it gets).

Elsewhere, bigger names are quietly building real numbers too — Xhaka at Sunderland (35 total, 18 points on the season) and Bentancur at Spurs (33 total) show this isn't just a cheap-enabler stat, it matters up and down the price range once you're actually getting the minutes.

None of this replaces goals and clean sheets as the backbone of a good squad, but if two defenders are otherwise level on price and fixtures, the one racking up tackles, interceptions and recoveries every week is the one banking the extra points your rivals are missing. Our defcon tracker has the full breakdown, updated after every gameweek — worth a proper look before your next transfer.

Back with the GW4 preview shortly.